BOSTON — As Democrats hammer the private financial practices of former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, the GOP's nominee-in-waiting, Boston is becoming a favorite staging ground for their attacks. Today's example: a visit from Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz.

Schultz's Boston trip was triggered by a recent article in Vanity Fair. The piece detailed Mitt Romney's financial ties to the Cayman Islands and Bermuda — where Romney owns a corporation, Sankaty High Yield Asset Investors, about which little is known. At a morning presser at the Mass. Democratic Party's Summer Street HQ, Wasserman Schultz said Romney's offshore accounts show that a Romney presidency would be shrouded in secrecy.

Romney forecast: cloudy and shroud-y?

"If for some reason Mitt Romney actually became president," Wasserman Schultz said, "having a penchant for secrecy allows — means that it is more likely that decisions made in the White House would be shrouded in secrecy … important decisions related to the economy and taxation and whether or not we go to war and intelligence, that sometimes [need to] have some light shed on it when it's not classified. We cannot have a cloud and a shroud, basically, descend over the White House. And that's what we'd be risking with Mitt Romney as president."

Wasserman's comments are part of a concerted effort by national Democrats to make Romney's personal finances a campaign issue as he challenges Democratic President Barack Obama. Over the weekend, the Romney campaign fired back, saying that Romney has paid "every dime of taxes he owes" and accusing President Obama of using "false and dishonest attacks" in an effort to keep his job.

SALEM, Mass. — In 2010, Rep. John Tierney's wife Patrice pled guilty to helping her fugitive brother file false tax returns. Ever since, the North Shore Democrat has been dogged by questions about his possible involvement. Now Tierney has responded to incendiary charges from his wife's brothers, who say Tierney knew all about their illegal gambling operation.

At a press conference on the afternoon of July 3, Tierney aggressively pushed back against recent allegations from his brothers-in-law Daniel and Robert Eremian. The week before, after Daniel Eremian was sentenced on gambling charges, he said Tierney was fully aware of the illegal offshore gambling outfit he ran with his brother Robert, who's currently a fugitive in Antigua. The next day Robert Eremian agreed in a phone interview with the Boston Globe.

But during a lengthy and occasionally combative appearance, Tierney said his brothers-in-law couldn't be trusted.

"I think they're very angry," he said. "I think they're angry and bitter — Danny, certainly, at the sentence they got, but I also think they're angry that their brother-in-law the congressman didn't make this matter go away for them. And that they also think that I was responsible for not allowing them to talk to their sister for the last couple of years. In fact, that was an instruction from her probation officer. And they're quite furious about that."

Richard Tisei, Tierney's Republican opponent, has said that Tierney's claims of innocence are implausible. Tierney accused Tisei of not wanting to talk about real issues. But at this point in the race, the question of what Tierney knew and when he knew it may be the biggest issue of all.

The Supreme Court health care ruling is now expected to come down this Thursday, June 28. While we all drum our fingers, law expert Renée Landers reviewed the four possible scenarios and explains the ramifications of each.

About the Authors

Adam ReillyAdam Reilly is a political reporter and associate producer for WGBH's Greater Boston.

Bob SeayBob Seay is the host of NPR's Morning Edition on 89.7FM WGBH Radio. He got his start in radio during college at WMUH, got involved with WGBH TV while in graduate school at Boston University and formerly hosted ME at WRNI in Rhode Island.